BILL NUMBER: SCR 37	CHAPTERED  07/23/99

	RESOLUTION CHAPTER   74
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE   JULY 23, 1999
	ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY   JULY 15, 1999
	ADOPTED IN SENATE   JULY 1, 1999
	AMENDED IN SENATE   JULY 1, 1999

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Costa

                        JUNE 7, 1999

   Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 37--Relative to California's
Legislators Go Back to School Week.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SCR 37, Costa.  California's Legislators Go Back to School Week.
   This measure would proclaim the 3rd week in September as the
annual week for California's Legislators Go Back to School Week.




   WHEREAS, The State of California was created 150 years ago as a
representative form of government in which all political power is
inherent in the people who exercise that power through legislative,
executive, and judicial branches and through the initiative and
referendum processes; and
   WHEREAS, In recent years, citizen interest in government and the
political system has declined, in part, due to a weakening belief in,
and a lack of understanding of, the virtues and knowledge needed for
a successful republican form of government; and
   WHEREAS, The people's understanding of the fundamental values and
principles, institutions, and processes of our constitutional
republic is critical to building public trust and confidence; and
whereas the operations and values of state government and in
particular the state Legislature, such as legislative representation,
deliberation, compromise, and resolution of conflicts, are often
poorly understood by the people; and
   WHEREAS, Many states and national organizations such as the
National Conference of State Legislatures, the Council of State
Governments, the American Council of Education, the National
Association of Secretaries of State, the American Political Science
Association, and the National Commission on Civic Renewal have
adopted resolutions pertaining to the issue of civic values and
education; and
   WHEREAS, California is fortunate to have a number of civic
education projects and organizations, including, but not limited to,
Capitol Focus, the Center for California Studies at California State
University, Sacramento, the Center for Civic Education, the
California Channel, the YMCA Model Legislatures, the Chicano Latino
Youth Leadership Program, Junior Statesman and Youth Vote, but the
effectiveness of these projects and organizations is sometimes
limited by the small numbers of people able to participate in those
activities as well as difficulties in coordination and communication
among civic education groups and organizations; and
   WHEREAS, As stated by Benjamin Rush, signer of the Declaration of
Independence, "There is but one method of rendering a republican form
of government durable, and that is by disseminating the seeds of
virtue and knowledge through every part of the state by means of
proper places and modes of education and this can be done effectively
only by the aid of the legislature"; and
   WHEREAS, The Executive Committee of the National Conference of
State Legislatures recently passed a resolution that said, in part,
that the operations of state legislatures and the roles of individual
legislators are often little understood by citizens, and that public
understanding of the institutions and processes of government is
critical to building public trust and confidence; and
   WHEREAS, The executive committee's resolution also stated that
state Legislatures need to bring about better understanding of the
concept of representative democracy and that education about
representative democracy should emphasize the importance of
compromise and the difficulty of resolving competing interests in a
diverse society; and
   WHEREAS, Civic education is a vital tool to promote greater
understanding of the legislative institution and the role of
legislators in a representative form of government ; and
   WHEREAS, The National Conference of State Legislatures urges the
nation's state Legislatures to promote civic education on
representative democracy; and
   WHEREAS, To help implement this recommendation, the National
Conference of State Legislatures proposes to create the America's
Legislators Go Back to School program, a national day on which state
legislators across the country visit schools and classrooms to talk
about the Legislature and to observe activities in the schools; and
   WHEREAS, Legislators may benefit from interacting with pupils,
teachers, and administrators; and
   WHEREAS, In California, there is also need for a Legislators Go
Back to School Week; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
thereof concurring, That the third week in September shall be
designated as the annual week for California's Legislators Go Back to
School Week.
